It’s spring! It’s Earth Day! Go out and do something nice for your Mother Earth with your neighbors and friends. Earth Day Network has listings you can search to find events near you. And after you’ve celebrated, treat yourself to a movie.
My new favorite people at takepart˚ think it’s about time that the people who are supposed to have a voice in Washington start to have a voice in Washington. They mean you. And they need your help. Specifically, they’re trying to build an online toolkit that puts power in your hands to “navigate the legislative process, investigate money in politics, advocate for issues [you] care about, and hold [your] representatives accountable.” In other words, they want you to be a citizen lobbyist. They seem to think that you’re the expert and they want you to tell them what tools and information you want to include in the tookit. Go ahead. Tell them what you think. You’re the expert.
On April 22nd, Earth Day, how better to celebrate than to see Earth, the movie? Disneynature‘s new film stars polar bears, elephants, and humpback whales, and with James Earl Jone’s voice for narration, how can you go wrong? Film-makers spent over five years and 2000 hours in the field to capture the story of three animal families in their struggles to survive a year on earth. From Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield, producers of “Blue Planet“, “Deep Blue” and the “Planet Earth” series, the film has gotten some rave reviews. Jake Brewer, at The Huffington Post, says Earth is “breathtaking” and that Fothergill and Linfield “completely and utterly” deliver on their intent to inspire with the film. According to Brewer,
Earth is a stunning masterpiece that will leave even the most ardent coal lobbyist in awe of our planet and yearning to see more — and to preserve it.
You know what’s even better? Not only will going to see Earth inspire you to do something to care for our precious planet. If you buy a ticket to see Earth during the first week, Disneynature will plant a tree in the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest in your honor. Cool, huh? See you there.
Ready to put your printer to work to save the world? The U.S. Congress is currently considering two major pieces of climate legislation and 1Sky wants you to help your representatives make the best possible decisions for us and for the planet. It’s as easy as printing a 10-page lobbying package and dropping it off at your Senators’ and/or Representatives district office. Congress will be on its two-week recess until April 19, so you might get to shake your reps hand and thank them ahead of time for doing the right thing. Sign up and collect your materials and instructions right here. And if you’re all fired up to fight for the planet after that, 1Sky has lots of other actions you can take.
You can read more about the proposed legislation here and here.
Just passing this along. These are six truly easy ways to do good, from growing your hair to giving blood, courtesy of intent.com.
This is fun for a very good cause. Visit the Bread Art Project’s ingenious website to create digital bread art and generate donations for Feeding America at the same time.
From the Bread Art Project website:
The Grain Foods Foundation and Food Network host Ted Allen have teamed up with Feeding America to help fight hunger — one slice of bread at a time. Consumers can take part in the Bread Art Project at gowiththegrain.org, where they can create a personalized piece of bread art by uploading a favorite drawing or photo, or create a new one using a slice of bread as the canvas.
For each piece of bread art created, the Grain Foods Foundation will donate $1 to Feeding America, up to $50,000. One dollar provides seven meals or four bags of groceries to the 25 million people served by food banks annually. The more bread art consumers create, the more meals Feeding America can put on the table for families across the country. Consumers can also view bread art from around the country and check out some of Allen’s own designs as they take a virtual tour of the online gallery of giving.
In the Bread Art workshops you can also create bread art animations. Or stroll the bread art galleries. And don’t forget to visit the bread art library to learn more about nutrition and hunger in America.
I bet you’re richer than you think you are. Or, that’s what the people who created the Global Rich List think. They built their website to challenge people’s perception of their own personal wealth and to encourage the idea that most of us have something we can spare for a good cause. According to the website’s creators,
We are obsessed with wealth. But we gauge how rich we are by looking upwards at those who have more than us. This makes us feel poor.
We wanted to do something which would help people understand, in real terms, where they stand globally. And make us realise that in fact most of us (who are able to view this web page) are in the privileged minority.
We want people to feel rich. And give some of their extra money to a worthwhile charity.
The Rich List is based on annual income figures from the World Bank Development Research Group, and most recently directed it’s fundraising efforts to Care.
Go ahead and find out how rich you are, and then once you’re feeling flush, send some of your excess cash to a charity of your choice. Network for Good or JustGive.org can help you find one.
Seven Blunders of the World
1. Wealth without work
2. Pleasure without conscience
3. Knowledge without character
4. Commerce without morality
5. Science without humanity
6. Worship without sacrifice
7. Politics without principle
—Mahatma Gandhi
The World Malaria Day Petition is collecting signatures to persuade Google to customize it’s search engine page to promote World Malaria Day 2009 on April 25th. According to the petition,
[Malaria] is a highly preventable and treatable disease which kills up to 3 million people and affects up to 500 million people every year. Children under 5 years old and pregnant women are most vulnerable. Not only does malaria exact a devastating human toll, but it also costs the world economy approximately $40 billion each year due to lost productivity and health care costs. Malaria causes poverty and poverty causes malaria. The World Health Organization states that long lasting insecticide treated bed nets are the most cost efficient and effective way in which to prevent malaria. Mosquitoes bite primarily at night while people sleep. Bed nets stop the bite and stop malaria.
Established by the World Health Organization in March 2007, World Malaria Day, April 25th annually, helps raise awareness and understanding of malaria. It is hoped that the establishment of World Malaria Day will mobilize communities across the world to get involved in fighting the disease and saving lives.
With a couple of clicks and your name, you can encourage Google to join the fight against malaria. Google’s help would leverage the efforts of the international anti-malaria community by bringing World Malaria Day 2009 to the attention of it’s millions of daily visitors. With your signature and Google’s help, the world community might meet it’s Millenium Development target of delivering effective and affordable protection and treatment to all people at risk of malaria by 2010.
Fun, fun, fun! Click the photos to watch the lights go out all around the world for Earth Hour 2009.